15. Malek

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

MALEK

T hough I'd never met them in person before now, I had spied on their dreams. I knew their names and hearts. They yearned for my Sunny, dreamt of claiming her, bedding her and ravaging her. These men dared call her their mate. Mate. Such a disgusting word.

What was a mate but a random match that fate decided to force upon unwitting victims? That is not real love.

Matehood was a fallacy. Real love was a choice, one made willfully, by two people who truly wanted to be together.

I chose Sunny, not because of fate or some unseen force. She was my one true love because I chose her. Then and now, I was forced to look upon the faces of injustice. The three beings who dared challenge my claim to the woman I love.

The demi-gods sunk their claws into the grass as they stood on the opposite side of the road. Paul, Logan, and Lucile, my three fiercest warriors stood behind me at the ready.

Just looking at the three dark haired beasts made my skin crawl. Their eyes glowed a toxic, glowing green as they dared to bare their fangs at us .

They murdered Sunny's parents. Killing a part of her heart that will never regrow. Anger churned within me, blackening my soul.

My inner beast demanded I end their lives like the blowing out of a candle. But I wanted it done slowly, I wanted to watch the life drain from their eyes, drip by drip. I wanted them to suffer so they would know the anguish they put my Sunny through.

A telepathic channel opened between myself and the demi-gods. Demons and demi-gods shared enough of a magical signature that we could communicate telepathically. But it wasn't as smooth a process as with our own kind.

My ears rang. A sharp pain accompanied the words that barged into my mind. "We didn't come here to fight you, Demon King. Just give us back our mate and we will be on our way," Payton, the largest beast, poked his snout skyward in a show of respect.

"Sunny is my bride, and I would sooner part with my own head than give her to you." I bit out, glaring and displaying my fangs.

"Who the fuck is Sunny? We're here for Livienne. Now hand her over. I'm done asking nicely." The most refined looking beast of the three, with a shiny mane roared, clawing the dirt.

"You must be, Blake. You brought my bride the most pain of all and I will see to it that you suffer tenfold for it." I said and Blake's head drew back he blinked in surprise.

"You're the one who's going to pay. You took advantage of our injuries and kidnapped her while we were down!" Blake growled, leaping for me with an open jaw primed to rip my throat out.

"Calm down, Blake. We need to keep our wits about us. This is not the enemy to fight half cocked." Chasten, the smallest beast of the three, put himself between Blake and me, keeping his friend back.

"And what if she went with me willingly?" I asked.

"Then you must have deceived her into going with you. What else would anyone expect from the King of Lies?" Blake barked like the mutt he was .

"I have seen and heard enough of this nonsense. You are the deceivers, and you will never see nor harm her again." My cheek wrinkled into a smile as I felt the dark power swell within me.

My dark beast roared awake and bubbled up to the forefront of my being. His powerful essence merged with mine, feeding me his immense power and his savage blood lust.

"Paul, Logan, Lucile, transform yourselves." I grunted as the bones in my spine expanded. "Lucile, you and Paul take the shiny one. Logan, you handle the one with the patch of white on his hind leg. I'll take the Dominant. The one they call ‘Payton'."

"Yes my King!" they answered before initiating their shifts to full demon beast form.

I did the same and a thick gray fur sprung up all over me. My skull elongated to form a beastly snout with three rows of shark-like teeth. My seven feet grew to ten as my claws grew long enough to drape my thighs like curtains.

This was the power of the ancient demon class, to be able to shift into a beast compatible for great and magnificent power, but also terrible carnage and destruction. Paul, Logan and Lucile's demon forms were similar to mine except their fur was a lighter gray and none of them came close to matching my size. Still, they were more than strong enough for the task.

While in the demon beast form, my men and I stood upright. The demi-god beast form on the other hand saw them standing on all fours. Though we were different beings entirely, our sizes weren't entirely dissimilar. Mine was the largest beast here but Logan and Payton were about the same size, as was Lucile and Blake. Chasten was the smallest, but only by a small margin.

Blake rammed Paul with his side, shoving him back several feet. Lucile ran to his aid and dirt went flying as the three of them locked in bloody battle .

Chasten waited, not making a move until Logan charged at him. I'd thought that a sign of weakness, but I was quickly proven wrong as Chasten darted away from Logan's claws and burrowed his fangs deep into Logan's thigh.

The demi-gods moved like lightning, proving themselves to be better fighters than I thought.

A massive orb of white-hot energy jettisoned toward my head. I jolted back narrowly, missing the deadly blast. Payton, clearly done with negotiating, puffed out his chest as another blast built up inside him.

"Now you're talking!" I roared, smiling so hard that you could see all three rows of my teeth. Intoxicating adrenaline pumped through my veins, invigorating me. This was the first decent fight I'd had in ages, a glorious clash of monsters. I was going to enjoy this.

My heart thudded in my chest as I took off for Payton.

A second blinding white blast blew free of his jaw and I traced out of his path at speeds only possible from a demon. The ground shook as I continued racing for Payton.

He paused for a second, his snout bobbing left and right as he considered what to do. He seemed to consider if he should blast me again or take cover in the trees until he could come up with another plan. Choosing the latter, he turned tail and tore into the foliage.

Bad idea. His energy blasts were the only vital power he had over me. Demi-Gods were fast but demons were faster. They were strong, but I was stronger. I pursued Payton up a slight incline, my heavy weight making my feet sink a few inches into the soil with every step.

I flashed the leafy branches out of my way as I followed Payton's musky scent.

Where was he? I grew frustrated. He couldn't have gotten that far. I rammed my fist into the pine tree on my left and a fierce rattling sound ensued. Next thing I knew, I was covered in a blanket of scorpions that had fallen from out of the upper branches .

What the hell? Of all the trees that could have been infested with scorpions, why this one? I flashed them off my shoulders as quickly as I could, but their angry stings sent a fiery pain stabbing through my shoulders.

Just then, I remembered something important. Demi-Gods had another power I hadn't factored in. They possessed illusionary magic. They could make me see things that weren't real, tricking and distracting me with an illusion.

The scorpions vanished in the blink of an eye and a set of sharp claws dug across my back in a furious and perfectly timed strike.

Damn, it was only an illusion. My vision was spotted with my blood; I turned around to look for my attacker. Empty forest gazed back at me.

"Where are you, Payton? Is this how demi-gods fight? From the shadows like cowards?" I roared at the silence.

"I learned it from a famous king. Fighting from the shadows is his specialty." Payton telepathically, replied from somewhere unseen. I bellowed a laugh realizing he was talking about me.

The wound on my back hurt but it wasn't deep enough to seriously harm me, only slow me a little.

I waded through a few more trees following his scent. I drew to a stop as a small brown chipmunk stood perched on a branch directly in front of my face. Our eyes met and it spat out an acorn, holding it in its paws.

"Come now, Payton. Is this really the best illusion you've got?" I laughed, flying my arms over my head.

The chipmunk was so cute it made the wound on my back hurt less.

The rodent dropped the acorn, his eyes honing eerily in on me. "I know your fears, Malek." The chipmunk said in a squeaky yet deathly serious tone.

"I fear nothing." I wiped the smile from my face as an angry grimace replaced it .

"Clink, clink, the chains call for you, Malek. Calling you to the place you once called home, the home of your unending nightmare. The one place that you can never truly escape." The creature squeaked and my anger cooled as something I hadn't felt in years reared its ugly head. Fear.

"What do you know of my nightmares?" I spat, trying to mask how much he had affected me.

This was more than an illusion; Payton was a being of great power. He was able to dip into my memories and use them to color his illusions for maximum effect.

Darkness enveloped my mind as I pondered the chipmunk's message. My thoughts ventured back to the darkest fortress of my memories. The place so horrid that I barely escaped with my life, my twisted, unending nightmare.

Suffering, pain, loneliness and heat so searing it charred me to my soul. My tormentors' mocking voices called to me. My anguish was their greatest delight. These were the colors on the canvas of my darkest dreams. My arms hung low, my body trembling as I uncovered what I'd long abandoned.

I screamed out as my blood wet the soil. Payton's illusion broke apart and I was back in the present.

Payton' s fangs were so deep into my leg he was close to the bone. He held on tight, like a tick, refusing to let go until he'd drained me of all my blood. Once again he snuck up on me when I was distracted. He was indeed a skilled warrior.

An unfamiliar voice beckoned to me. It said to let Payton take my leg and allow him to rip into me and take my life. Then I would never have to go back, never have to fear the clank of the rusty chains ever again. I would never have to relive that dreadful nightmare again.

I froze, caught in the cage of my own fears, just as Payton had intended. His fangs deepened and my blood flowed like a river.

My pulse thumped so loudly I could hear it. My blood pressure plummeted and I grew dizzy. The larger part of me welcomed the incoming darkness and the permanent peace and freedom from fear that death would bring.

I might have let Payton finish the job if only… if only he'd had been wise enough to keep his mouth shut. But instead, like a fool Payton telepathically said. "A mate bond is sacred. Not even you have the power to break the strings that connect Livienne to me. Nothing you can ever do will keep me from pursuing my mate."

I saturated my lungs with air, my strength returning with a fiery vengeance.

"Sunny was the one who healed me when I was broken, putting my fractured soul back together like the pieces of a puzzle. I would sooner burn the world to ashes than lose her." I roared, fisting Payton's neck and squeezing it with all my strength. He whimpered as a crackling sound forced him to release my leg. Grabbing him by the loose skin along his back I threw him hard against a nearby tree.

He collided with it, making an audible clack before landing on all fours and shaking wildly. He had incredible endurance; a wolf shifter would have succumbed from such a blow. But as a demi-god he was far stronger.

I charged at him and he shuffled about, never staying too long in one spot so as not to get caught again.

An energy blast tore from his mouth shooting for me. At such a close range I hadn't the time to dodge it completely. It seared my thigh, disintegrating a large patch of my pants before demolishing a series of trees behind me.

He darted behind me, making a quick zig zag almost too fast to see. He then came at my thigh, teeth first. Inches from his target, his jaw gaped wider, showing his tongue.

I swiped my claw, cutting a chunk out of his neck. I must not have gone deep enough to reach the windpipe as he was still standing. Blood stained his fur, soaking the grass beneath his paws .

Still, his eyes burned that determined, toxic green, letting me know that despite his wounds he was far from giving up.

We bulldozed several trees as our monsters wrestled our way through the forest. Bite for bite, scratch for scratch, we ripped chunks from each other in ways that would have decimated weaker beings.

Payton was only half god and I, full. It was a true testament to his tenacity that he was able to last this long against me.

He bit into my shoulder and the pain felt like a thunder bolt had struck me. His jaw unclenched as he pushed off, trying to get enough distance between us before I could retaliate.

I hugged him to me in a move that seemed to both confuse and terrify him. His claws dug into my chest and torso. The pain was blinding but as he was immobile I had the advantage. My claws knifed into his sides, deep enough that they ripped past his flesh and lodged into the muscle.

He howled in agony, thrashing about in a way that said his every instinct told him his life was in mortal danger and he may not survive unless he managed to get away.

My death hug persisted, my claws inching deeper and deeper as all Payton could do was thrash and howl.

"Crying won't help you now. No one can save you from me. You brought this fate on yourself."

I could almost see the spirit start to leave Payton's body as a voice broke into my mind through the telepathic channel.

"My King, Sam is here. He says there's been an attack at the community center. Lady Sunny and the princess are in danger." Lucile said, urgency and panic mixing in her voice.

My claws retracted and Payton fell like a bag of potatoes.

Sunny.

Leaving the dying demi-god behind, I raced through the trees and back towards the cars. Every inch of my battered body screamed out to me, begging for rest and a chance to heal.

I'd lost a lot of blood and had sustained multiple wounds, fractures and strained muscles. Still, my body moved on autopilot, fighting the forest to get to the car.

I didn't know what was happening or who dared attack the school and endanger my bride and sister. As Lucile and Sam's faces peeked out from behind the trees up ahead, I only knew one thing to be true.

Today's battle had only just begun. Tonight, my fury would see my enemy's blood rain down on Demon City like a hurricane. After today, no one would ever dare question the lengths I would go to protect what was mine.